A Host of Golden Daffodils

Cool Spring temperatures are bringing the gradual appearance of color. Color seems to emerge from the ground up, beginning with white snowdrops. Next come the crocuses, chionodoxa (glory of the snow) and blue flowers on vinca, the delicate ground cover many use after tearing out English ivy.

Right now daffodils are popping out everywhere: along fences and brick walls, by mailbox posts and cement steps, on vine-covered banks, around the Homeland lakes, and in the median of Roland Avenue and University Parkway.

I am not a daffodil expert; few of the thousand varieties do I know. I prefer the paler shades, but something about the buttery vibrant yellows catches my eye and wakes me up from winter.

A recent walk through Homeland and Roland Park made me think of Wordsworth’s famous poem, “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” whose first stanza includes the famous line: “a host, of golden daffodils.”

With cool temperatures predicted, daffodils will continue to bloom and dance through the weekend. Maybe my favorites, white with tiny orange-edged cups, will open in our garden.